Europe votes in favour of airline financial protection

The airline industry looks set to be forced to offer financial protection for its passengers after the European Parliament voted in favour of new regulations today.

Like tour operators and agents, airlines will have to protect their customers in light of a company failure.

They will also be forced to provide fares inclusive of taxes, fees and charges and give equal access to fares across the whole of Europe.

Before being officially put into place, the regulations have to be ratified by the European Council, which is set to meet on October 1.

It it then likely to be another two to three months before the new regulations come into force.

A spokesman for ABTA said it was a major step in the right direction.

"We have been lobbying on these issues for a number of years but with lack of success with the UK Government. This cannot be anything other than a step in the right direction," he said.

"The transparent pricing issue basically supports steps already taken by ourselves and the Office of Fair Trading, although there are certain amendments that were rejected and we need to sit and look at these in more detail.

"With regards to the opening up of access to fares, the fact that we have amongst the most competitive prices in Europe means agents will be presented with a great commercial opportunity."

With permission from Travelmole